PRESS ASSOCIATION -- Gary Barlow has confirmed that Take That are a four-piece again, saying the group's time with Robbie Williams has ended "perfectly".
The 40-year-old X Factor judge told the Radio Times that Williams was no longer in the band. "It was beautiful. We got on well. We finished the tour. We're all happy," he said.
"The fans have come along and been happy. Great, great, great, great, great. Now Rob's doing a solo record, and from this point it's back to where it was."
He said Take That's revival as a five-man band "ended perfectly", adding: "You know what, we can revisit it whenever we want.
"He's our brother, Rob is, and if he's ever in trouble or he wants to have a year off being Robbie Williams, he's welcome any time he wants."
The chart-toppers announced in 2010 that they would be performing their first tour as a complete group, Progress Live 2011, for 16 years.
Barlow said of the pair's previous fall-outs: "It would be unfair for me to say he's the one with the ego because I've got a pretty big ego as well.
"And especially in those younger days when I was 24 and he was 20, but then you come back - I was 38 and he was 34 - and it's like 'Let's talk this through'."
A Take That spokesman said Barlow had made a similar comment earlier in the year, and insisted the current line-up of the group was simply on "a break".
"I can confirm that the band are not splitting and there is no pending announcement of a split," he said. "The band are on a break, Gary is doing X Factor and Robbie is working on his new solo album."